Dolores O'Riordan 
Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan had a great interest in monasteries and loved to listen to monks chanting Vespers, it was said during her funeral homily.
Fr Liam McNamara said that he first met the late musician in 1989 when she was playing a keyboard and singing with the choir of the Church of St Ailbe. He said that Dolores had an “enquiring mind” and that she was interested in St Gregory the Great who standardised the use of chant in church.
“In her visits to various monasteries (Mount Melleray, Glenstal, Roscrea) she loved to listen to the monks chant Vespers and Compline,” said Fr McNamara.
“Monasteries had a special appeal to her. Perhaps it was the heavenly odour of monasticism in Holy Cross that prompted her to celebrate her marriage in Holy Cross in 1994.”
He said that the number of people her singing helped people through the “darkness of depression” is countless, adding that: “She did have a unique respect for everybody. Coupled with that respect, her kind, loving and generous heart, made her a source of great hope to the Church, during its stormy years. For that we sincerely thank her from our hearts.”
